Zambia: Fury Over Release of AIDS Prisoners

Several nongovernmental HIV/AIDS organizations in Zambia have criticized its government for releasing, without treating, prisoners with HIV/AIDS before their sentence was completed. But one ethicist said the practice could be considered a humane solution to a problem when the nation cannot care for the ill prisoners.

"It is not a correct measure," said Clement Mfuzi of the Network of Zambian People Living with HIV/AIDS. "We don't know how much counseling they had received before they were released. They need to be provided proper treatment first. Many of them may still be in denial and have unprotected sex with their spouses and others," said Mfuzi.

During the last three years, Zambian prison officials have released over 300 prisoners with AIDS because authorities had insufficient treatment resources for the terminally ill, said Mfuzi. HIV prevalence is higher in the prison population than in the general population, and Zambia's government has no plan to manage the problem.

One HIV/AIDS activist said prior approval by Zambia's president is necessary before a prisoner is released. "People with AIDS usually die 'inside' and there are no provisions currently for HIV and AIDS awareness, HIV voluntary counseling and testing services, access to antiretroviral therapy, or palliative care," he said. "A very grim and inhumane reality."

Early release of prisoners with HIV/AIDS may be a humanitarian policy so that friends and family can provide care, said leading ethicist Arthur Caplan. However, "if they simply release people who are infected into the general population who are still capable of infecting others then this fact would have to be weighed very carefully in terms of the overall impact a release program would have on the public health."

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